One of the problems in securing computer systems is the need for tamper-resistant storage of security information such as keys, digital certificates, identifiers, and related data. This functionality can be provided by a token, such as a smart card, a security token, a USB (universal serial bus) token, or the like. In addition, tokens can provide the ability to be replaced when the token or security becomes compromised.
One of the risks of relying on tokens is that they can be lost, forgotten, broken, or stolen. It is possible to issue a new key to replace the old key. Nevertheless, it is not necessarily desirable to invalidate the keys and replace the old token with a new token having new keys. For example, the user might still want to use the old keys to access computer resources, such as e-mail.
In any event, the token might simply be temporarily misplaced and not compromised, so it is not necessary to invalidate the keys for the token. When the user locates the token, the old key might be re-used.
A system can provide various actions which can be taken, such as generating a new token with the old keys, generating a new token with new keys, revoking certificates, generating new certificates, or similar. However, taking any one of these actions in certain situations can have undesirable consequences, such as further compromising security or rendering system resources inaccessible.
Therefore, to address the above described problems and other problems, what is needed is a method and system for providing a plan of actions which can be taken when a token is lost, forgotten, damaged, or stolen.